Drivers aged 18 to 24 were more likely to speed

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Published:16:28Wednesday 08 June 2016

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More than a third of young drivers admit regularly breaking the speed limit, according to a new survey.

The study of 2,000 motorists - conducted for used car dealer The Car People - found that thirty-six per cent of drivers aged 18 to 24 regularly drove over the speed limit, compared with 22 per cent of drivers as a whole. It also revealed that more men than women admitted speeding, with one in four men saying they often exceeded the speed limit

Young people were also the worst offenders when it came to using a mobile phone while at the wheel. Fourteen per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds admitted to risking an accident by using their phones while driving, compared with just 4 per cent of those above that age bracket.

The survey comes in the wake of government figures which show that the youngest drivers are involved in far more serious accidents than older and more experienced motorists. Despite making up only 1.5 per cent of the UK’s drivers, 17 to 19-year-olds are involved in 9 per cent of all fatal accidents and 2,088 drivers and passengers aged 17 to 24 were seriously injured or killed in road accidents in 2014.

The study also found that a quarter of those surveyed regularly sang and danced behind the wheel, with far more women (28 per cent) than men (11 per cent) guilty of getting carried away.

Such findings are only likely to add weight to calls for restrictions to be placed on young drivers. A survey carried out by road safety charity Brake recently found that more than 90 per cent of people backed introducing limits on young drivers to improve road safety.